Tag Archives: processors

It has been a really good year across most of Alaska’s commercial fisheries. Salmon prices are up, harvests are good, fuel costs are down, and there’s more: The world’s appetite for nutritious, wild-caught Alaska fish, caught in clean waters, is growing. Alaskans’ track record for managing fisheries in a sustainable manner, both near-shore and further at sea, reinforces our reputation for responsible stewardship. Life is good.,,, Seafood employed 56,800 workers in 2015-2016 and this industry annually contributes $5.2 billion to the state’s economic output. But as good as this sounds, the fact is that this traditional industry is actually fragile,,, click here to read the story 21:45

The Maritime Fishermen’s Union is voicing concerns about the low prices its members are getting paid for their catches in southeastern New Brunswick this season and suggesting protests could follow. Wages currently sit at $4.75 a pound per market lobster and $4.25 a pound per can of lobster — nearly $2 less than what was expected, according to MFU organizer Michel Richard. There is “no excuse for such a low price,” Richard told CBC’s Information Morning Moncton on Monday, as lobster season entered its second week. “It’s very troubling, and our fishermen are trying to reason why this is happening, and the excuses are not realistic,” he said. click here to read the story 18:33

Alaska’s Bristol Bay sockeye fishery is intense, lucrative — and also remote. Much of the fish landed there is frozen whole and shipped long distances for secondary processing. Although the product is famous, there are some who think the quality could be improved. In Sitka, a pair of entrepreneurs is betting $2 million that they can deliver a better Bristol Bay sockeye. Meet Northline Seafoods. The relentless pace of sockeye fishing can’t be overstated: two openings a day, four hours between openings, with harvests topping 13 million pounds a day during the peak of the season in June. Twelve processors buy fish in Bristol Bay. And next year there will be a thirteenth: Northline. “They’ll go under the deck. There’ll be three more of these ice machines here…” This is Pat Glaab, who with his partner, Ben Blakey, has bought a 150-foot former helicopter logging barge and is converting it into a floating fish processor. click here to read the story 08:12

It’s official. fishermen can catch their whole quota, and not leave 1.4 million pounds unharvested at the bottom of the Bering Sea because of a surprising provision in the federal rules governing the crab rationalization program that blindsided fishermen and processors late last year. That oversight nearly cost the industry some $5 million. That’s good news as the Tanner fishery moves along, with 72 percent of the eastern Tanners harvested as of Monday for 8.1 million pounds by eight boats catching an average of 37.4 crab per pot. Read the rest here 12:30

Fishing industry consolidation has complicated the lives of Tanner crab fishermen and processors, but it looks like they’ll still have access to the whole quota and won’t have to leave 10 percent in the water. Bering Sea commercial crab fisheries are underway, with fishermen catching Tanners at a faster pace than snow crab, according to Miranda Westphal, of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Unalaska. And Icicle Seafood’s withdrawal from the crab fishery shouldn’t leave any Tanners “stranded,” thanks to an emergency federal action. Read the post here 08:45

Bristol Bay is expecting a sockeye salmon harvest topping 40 million fish next year, including the southern Alaska Peninsula. That’s bound to challenge harvesters and processors in ensuring quality, and have a chilling effect on prices for Upper Cook Inlet sockeyes. Read the rest here 13:34

P.E.I. lobster fishermen have begun another season without knowing how much they’ll be paid for their catch. Mike McGeoghegan, president of the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association, said last spring fishermen would never again haul traps without knowing the price, but the season started as scheduled last week without a published price. Read more here

Members of the Seals and Sealing Network (SSN) will be on location to document the start of the North Atlantic sealing season, speaking with sealers, processors and members of the coastal communities whose livelihoods depend on the sustainable and responsibly managed industry. Read more here 09:54

About 200 fishermen, processors, industry officials and politicians from the three Maritime provinces agreed at the two-day summit to introduce a two-cent levy – one cent from harvesters and one cent from processors – for each pound of lobster landed. The money – about $2.5-million annually – will go mostly towards marketing Canadian lobster as a premium product in North America, Europe and Asia. Read more here globeandmail 21:14

Fisheries Minister Ron MacKinley says he is pushing for a pilot project that would see P.E.I. lobster prices negotiated by fishermen and processors before the spring fishing season.The issue was first raised in question period Thursday when Independent MLA Olive Crane questioned MacKinley on whether he would consider establishing a lobster price setting mechanism, as recommended by the Maritime Lobster Panel. MacKinley said he has asked the Fishermen’s Association and the Seafood Processors Association to get together and work out how this could be accomplished [email protected] 17:18

An independent review into low lobster prices has concluded a series of issues have hurt what fishermen are being paid on the wharf, but that processors and buyers are also suffering. [email protected] 08:04

Several crab fisheries in the Bering Sea are open as federal regulators were successful in getting fishermen their IFQ permits so they can drop pots. The end of the federal government shutdown on Thursday proved very timely for crab fishermen who were unable during the shutdown to get their IFQ permits. U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski issued a statement Friday thanking the National Marine Fisheries Service for processing and faxing out all the permits needed on Thursday. Murkowski confirms that all the fishermen and processors had their permits in hand by the close of business Thursday. [email protected] 19:52

The Canadian Press – CHARLOTTETOWN — A meeting between Prince Edward Island fishermen and seafood processors ended in frustration Sunday as the contentious dispute over the price of lobster continued. Michael McGeoghegan, president P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association, said his organization could not reach an agreement with the P.E.I. Seafood Processors Association after meeting in Charlottetown for about two and a half hours.continued

“New Jersey’s fishing industry is one of the drivers of our regional economy and a staple in coastal communities,” the congressmen wrote. “The fishing industry impacts a wide swath of New Jersey’s economy and includes not only fishermen, but processors, boat builders, bait and tackle shops, marinas, distributors, and tourism thanks to New Jersey’s vast charter boat operations.” Read More

NILS STOLPE: The New England groundfish debacle (Part IV): Is cutting back harvest really the answer?

While it’s a fact that’s hardly ever acknowledged, the assumption in fisheries management is that if the population of a stock of fish isn’t at some arbitrary level, it’s because of too much fishing. Hence the term “overfished.” Hence the mandated knee jerk reaction of the fisheries managers to not enough fish; cut back on fishing. What of other factors? They don’t count. It’s all about fishing, because fishing is all that the managers can control; it’s their Maslow’s Hammer. When it comes to the oceans it seems as if it’s about all that the industry connected mega-foundations that support the anti-fishing ENGOs with hundreds of millions of dollars a year in “donations” are interested in controlling. Read the article here

The plaintiffs included U.S. Congressmen John Tierney, whose district includes Gloucester, and Barney Frank, who represents New Bedford. The Conservation Law Foundation was allowed to intervene, Read More »